Blue Beetle, the Latino DC superhero, is coming to the big screen with Angel Manuel Soto, the director behind Charm City Kings, signing on to direct a feature film adaptation of the comic for Warner Bros. and DC Films. Miss Bala writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer will pen the script, and Zev Foreman is executive producing.
Angel Manuel Soto’s latest film Charm City Kings won a special jury prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for its ensemble. It would later find a home on HBO Max last May. This marks his first time working on a blockbuster superhero film.
Blue Beetle has a long history in comics, being one of the oldest superheroes. He first appeared as a Fox Comics character in 1939 from creator Charles Wojtkowski. He bounced around to different owners until finally landing at DC in the 1980s. The current version of the character and the one featured in Soto’s film will be the Mexican-American teenager named Jaime Reyes.
Reyes first debut as the character in 2006. Over the years, this version of Blue Beetle has become a member of the Teen Titans and starred in two Blue Beetle comic series.
His powers come from a mysterious scarab that binds to Reyes’ spine and provides him with blue alien armor. This scarab armor is known to speak with Jaime Reyes and can equip him with various weapons and wings.
The film is set to begin production this fall.
